Todd Helton was already locked up for $16.6 million this year and $19.1 million next year with an insane $23 million option for 2012, but the Rockies felt it necessary to extend his contract all the same. He’s now locked up for 2012 and given a contract for 2013. Financial details were not released, but the club did say that they were deferring a portion of the money over ten years beginning in 2014.

While more money to Todd Helton may not be the best baseball move, he’s insanely popular in Colorado. The deferral of dough avoids the team having to make a smart-but-unpopular decision regarding Helton’s overpriced 2012 option too.

You don’t do this sort of thing with just any player, but every team is probably allowed one or two silly contracts in the interests of loyalty, PR, good will and things like that. Helton is that guy for the Rockies.

You know, it may not be the most financially prudent idea to give Todd Helton another $9.9M, but that’s not the whole story. If the Rockies did not pick up the $23M option in 2012 (which they obviously would not, they would have owed him a $4.6M buyout. So, the new contract is really for only $5.3M in new money from 2012-2013. Plus, in negotiations for the new deal, Helton agreed to allow Colorado to defer approximately $10M of the $19M owed next year. So, all in all, two years of a guy with a .400+ OBP for $5.3M plus the ability to defer an additional $10M makes this look like a pretty decent deal. Of course, that assumes Helton doesn’t go all Giambi on us over the next 3-4 years (not a steroids reference).

As bad as the original contract was, I think this makes some sense. I’m sure the main objective was to defer a bunch of the money he was already due in the next couple of years.
(It should be noted the original contract was heavily backloaded because they needed to keep Helton, but paid some enormous contracts to some pitchers who bombed, and were therefore short of cash, how ironic.)